Corporate report

Regulatory burden statement – April 2024

Updated 11 April 2024

Applies to England

Overview

Ofqual is the independent qualifications regulator for England, regulating on behalf of students of all ages and apprentices to make sure that qualifications, apprenticeship end-point assessments (EPAs) and National Assessments are of good quality. 

A direct consequence of Ofqual’s regulation is to enable and promote sustainable economic growth through supporting the efficient pairing of employers and appropriately skilled workers. Students and apprentices rely on qualifications and assessments to clearly communicate their capabilities in relevant knowledge, skills, and behaviours. If qualifications are not reliable then employers, higher education institutions and other users would face uncertainty and additional costs during recruitment. In parallel, students and apprentices would find it harder to communicate their capabilities. Ofqual’s regulation acts against these inefficiencies by ensuring that regulated qualifications are fit for purpose, valid and delivered securely.

There is a level of unavoidable and necessary burden associated with securing Ofqual’s objectives, including implementing governmental education policy. Within this context, much of Ofqual’s regulatory approach is outcomes-focused, rather than prescriptive. This approach to regulation allows awarding organisations more flexibility to take specific action that is fitting to their context while securing what is in the interests of students and apprentices. Prescriptive requirements are only used where necessary for quality, fairness, or clarity purposes.  

Ofqual has well-established, stable, and largely co-regulatory engagement with its regulated community. A co-regulatory approach involves working closely with regulated awarding organisations to identify and address threats to quality and fairness, in the interests of students, apprentices and those that use qualifications. Co-regulation requires engagement with awarding organisations but supports minimising burden by helping to focus work on the most important issues and facilitating well-designed regulatory requirements.

Through such relationships, Ofqual provides clarity of expectations about what is required to operate in the regulated market, and channels for communication to facilitate awarding organisations in complying with Ofqual’s requirements for how they design and deliver their qualifications. Ofqual acts robustly to protect students and apprentices, where that is necessary. Co-regulation does not preclude the full use of Ofqual’s regulatory tools, including enforcement.  

Ofqual takes a risk-based approach to regulation, ensuring its activity is proportionate to potential harm and has the greatest impact. To achieve these aims, Ofqual analyses available evidence and evaluates risk to target its regulatory activities. Ofqual selects the most appropriate regulatory tools to best manage risks to ensuring qualification standards, securing fair outcomes for students and apprentices, and promoting public confidence in regulated qualifications. These tools range from the use of co-regulatory discussions, issuing guidance and setting requirements, through to investigation and enforcement activity.

In addition to the broad principles of risk-based and outcomes-focused regulation, Ofqual also embeds awareness of regulatory burden into its routine operations. This includes explicit consideration of regulatory burden where appropriate in decision-making processes. Where Ofqual is considering introducing or changing its rules and guidance, it includes Regulatory Impact Assessments as part of its formal consultation process. This provides awarding organisations and other affected stakeholders an opportunity to outline additional costs and provide input regarding how burden could be managed. 

Ofqual is required under the Apprenticeships, Skills, Children and Learning Act (ASCL) 2009 to publish an annual statement outlining plans to keep its regulatory functions under review. 

This statement explains the work undertaken in the past 12 months (1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024) by Ofqual to prevent the introduction or maintenance of unnecessary burdens on regulated awarding organisations. It also sets out how Ofqual proposes to manage regulatory burden in the next 12 months (1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025).

Activity to manage regulatory burden between 1 April 2023 and 31 March 2024 

Regulatory provisions and guidance 

During the reporting period, Ofqual formally removed the exceptional regulatory frameworks introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic (the vocational and technical qualifications regulatory framework and the general qualifications alternative awarding framework). These regulations were no longer needed and were removed at the earliest opportunity after safeguarding the interests of students and providing clarity for awarding organisations.

Over the reporting period, Ofqual has supported the implementation of the Department for Education’s review of post-16 qualifications at both level 3 and level 2 and below in England. The post-16 qualifications review affects several distinct groups of qualifications and Ofqual has considered the appropriate regulatory approach for each context. In doing so, Ofqual has followed its risk-based approach to ensure that new rules and guidance are only introduced when necessary and proportionate. 

An example of this is Ofqual’s approach to regulating level 1 qualifications that are prerequisites to employment. These qualifications are currently regulated through the General Conditions of Recognition, as no common issues relating to this diverse grouping of qualifications, which would necessitate additional regulatory controls, were identified. Therefore, Ofqual has concluded it is not necessary to introduce further controls at this time, although this would be reviewed should there be evidence of risks associated with these qualifications.

Recognising the role given to the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IfATE) under the Skills Act, Ofqual has ensured that it has not introduced additional rules for level 2 or level 3 technical occupation qualifications where this may duplicate IfATE’s approval criteria. Ofqual worked with IfATE to align its requirements for assessment strategies to minimise the burden on awarding organisations by enabling them to submit the same information to both organisations.  

Ofqual has updated the system used to categorise qualifications by their subject content - the sector subject area classification system. During this reporting period Ofqual has introduced non-statutory guidance that provides descriptions of each sector subject area and broad, illustrative examples of the types of qualifications that may be associated with them. This will  increase clarity, reduce the effort needed by awarding organisations to assign qualifications appropriately and reduce the risk of inappropriately assigning a qualification.

Communications and engagement with awarding organisations 

Ofqual has continued to develop processes to secure clear, efficient, and accessible engagement with awarding organisations. 

Ofqual has sought to embed a co-regulatory approach to requesting information and engagement where necessary for regulatory compliance. Awarding organisations are invited to tell Ofqual should they need more time to respond and Ofqual works with awarding organisations so that meetings happen at a mutually convenient time. Additionally, a survey regarding the timely provision of assessment information by awarding organisations offering end-point assessments was initially piloted with volunteer awarding organisations to ensure clarity in the full request. The timing of the full request was then implemented specifically to minimise burden alongside other regulatory requirements such as the annual statement of compliance process. 

Ofqual has also removed duplication or unnecessary engagement with awarding organisations. To reduce the number of regulatory meetings exam boards had to attend, joint regulatory meetings addressing both general qualifications and Vocational and Technical Qualifications (VTQs) were held for pre-summer and post-summer matters. Externally, other regulators and government agencies were invited to attend these meetings where appropriate to reduce the number of engagements and resource required.

Ofqual has also made it easier for schools and colleges to access relevant information regarding VTQ assessments. Following the introduction of the VTQ action plan which led to a single results day for VTQs used for progression alongside general qualifications, Ofqual introduced the VTQ Information Hub. The information hub collates all relevant dates and deadlines for schools and colleges, supporting all parties in delivering assessment results in full and on time. Prior to the introduction of the hub, there was no centralised messaging and schools and colleges were required to engage with multiple websites, systems and deadlines. Ofqual sought to minimise burden on awarding organisations uploading information by producing detailed guidance on submitting data to the hub. 

A further strand of the action plan involved Ofqual’s work with the Joint Council of Qualifications and the Federation of Awarding Bodies. The 3 organisations brought together awarding organisations to explore how they could reduce burden by streamlining communications to schools and colleges. In early 2024, the communications group evolved and awarding organisations began to share their own experiences among their peers, with attendees providing positive feedback. 

Ofqual has supported awarding organisations providing updates on schools affected by Reinforced Autoclaved Aerated Concrete (RAAC). This has allowed increased visibility of support being offered by individual awarding organisations, as well as a collective view for Ofqual and the Department for Education (DfE).

Working with other regulators and government bodies 

Given the complexity and interconnected nature of the qualifications landscape there are areas where Ofqual has a shared interest and responsibility with other government agencies. Where this occurs, Ofqual works constructively with other government agencies to clarify roles and responsibilities for regulated communities in addition to removing duplication where practicable. 

Work was undertaken during this reporting period to prevent the duplication of awarding organisations’ effort in providing the same, or very similar, information multiple times to different bodies. For example, Ofqual has collaborated with other qualifications regulators to enable a single statement of compliance submission that can be used across regulators, saving awarding organisations time.  

For the 2023 statement of compliance return, Ofqual, the Council for the Curriculum, Examinations and Assessment Regulation and Qualifications Wales jointly extended the submission window into mid-January 2024, acknowledging that it would be helpful to awarding organisations to have more time after the Christmas period to compile and obtain internal governing body sign-off before submitting their reviews.  

Ofqual has also worked in collaboration with the DfE and IfATE to minimise burden associated with the review process for qualifications that fall in scope of the post-16 qualifications review. One strand of this work has involved ensuring that awarding organisations have access to information to build their understanding of the relevant regulatory requirements and the review process.

Following the commencement of the Skills and Post-16 Education Act 2022, Ofqual has removed the accreditation requirement for T Level technical qualifications, which will be approved only by IfATE. 

Following the external quality assurance transition for End-Point Assessments, there has been continued collaboration with DfE to minimise overlap between Ofqual and DfE’s End-Point Assessment processes. This has supported the Register of End-Point Assessment Organisations becoming part of the Apprenticeship Provider and Assessment Register, reducing complexity and duplication of effort for awarding organisations.  

Ofqual has published a Memorandum of Understanding for complaint handling with the Office of the Independent Adjudicator for Higher Education. The Memorandum of Understanding serves to streamline processes for students taking Ofqual-regulated qualifications in Higher Education Institutions and provides greater clarity for students, schools and colleges, and awarding organisations.

Data requests, compliance monitoring and supporting positive innovation 

Ofqual has continued to improve the efficiency of its information requests to balance the need for appropriate oversight of awarding organisations, and the need to minimise additional burden on awarding organisations. This has included routine maintenance and upkeep of key digital infrastructure, such as the Portal – the interface that Ofqual uses to both communicate with awarding organisations and request information. 

Ofqual has created an awarding organisation user research function for volunteers from awarding organisations to support development of the Portal on behalf of the regulated community, ensuring that communication systems work for all stakeholders. 

For qualifications that are in scope of the post-16 qualifications review, Ofqual has streamlined the uploading of information to Ofqual’s Register of regulated qualifications for those awarding organisations seeking funding approval, reducing administrative burden. 

Ofqual has continued to work on developing the accessibility and efficiency of its enquiries and complaints services through digital transformation. For example, the enquiries service, predominantly used by centres, students and apprentices, has moved phone call handling “in-house”, with telephony services developed to support effective call capture and management. As part of this Ofqual has deployed interactive voice response technology, which is enabling over 60% of callers to access the information they need without having to wait to talk to someone.

Further work is under way to improve efficiency and the user experience when applying for Ofqual recognition. This has included reviewing supporting materials on Ofqual’s website, the design of the recognition gateway website and the expansion process.  

In November 2023, Ofqual launched the Innovation Service pilot. The pilot is running until 31 May 2024 and provides swift informal feedback to help awarding organisations evaluate new approaches to designing and delivering qualifications against Ofqual’s regulatory framework, by highlighting potential risks to compliance. This service is designed to help address areas of ambiguity about regulatory expectations when considering innovative approaches – to support good innovation that is in the interests of good quality qualifications for students and apprentices. Further development of the service will take into account the experiences of awarding organisations.

The increasing sophistication of and access to artificial intelligence (AI) based technology means that there is greater potential for awarding organisations to explore innovative opportunities in qualification design, development, and delivery. Ofqual has taken a co-regulatory approach in exploring the implications of AI with the sector, running an in-person event and separate webinar with awarding organisations. Where necessary, Ofqual has provided clear communications highlighting where use of AI may lead to non-compliance, such as using AI as a sole marker or sole invigilator, supporting the development of innovative AI-based practices that are in line with its regulatory framework.

Approach to managing regulatory burden between 1 April 2024 and 31 March 2025 

Continual improvement of process efficiency 

Ofqual plans to build on the work outlined above and continue to review its processes in relation to both the burden imposed on awarding organisations, and to support Ofqual’s timely responses to routine regulatory processes based on improved demand forecasting. 

Ofqual routinely checks that awarding organisations are meeting its rules. If there is a concern that a recognised AO is not offering high quality assessments, may have breached Ofqual’s conditions and so placed students or apprentices at risk, Ofqual will investigate. Such work is undertaken in a professional and objective manner, following best practice guidance.  

Ofqual plans to continue making improvements where necessary to the induction of newly-recognised awarding organisations. This includes updating the awarding organisation introductory materials to make it easier for new awarding organisations and new starters at existing awarding organisations to become familiar with Ofqual’s requirements. For awarding organisations going through the recognition or expansion process, Ofqual will continue with the reviews regarding aspects of the recognition application process, to ensure ease of use and efficiency.

Based on feedback from the 2023 process, improvements will be made to the interface for the 2024 statement of compliance that all awarding organisations must submit.   

Ofqual is planning to update the Portal to support efficient and effective communication when awarding organisations need to alert Ofqual to relevant notifiable events. Additional fields in the Portal will support awarding organisations in drawing Ofqual’s attention to the salient details of an event, with an objective to reduce the need for follow-up clarification. 

The way in which awarding organisations alert Ofqual to notable events is planned to be enhanced by introducing additional fields to act as prompts to highlight the nature of an event. This will bring greater clarity to the information Ofqual requires from awarding organisations and reduce the need for follow up questions.  

To further reduce burden, Ofqual will continue to catalogue the data it already holds to avoid unnecessary duplication of data requests, in addition to reviewing and modifying data submissions where appropriate to ensure only the data that is needed is collected.  

Ofqual also plans to merge its readiness review for technical qualifications with IfATE’s monthly performance meetings with awarding organisations over the next reporting period to reduce duplication of effort and facilitate efficient cross-agency work, leading to a more streamlined and consistent experience for awarding organisations.

Ofqual plans to link the sector subject area classification system it uses with IfATE’s route system, which categorises qualifications using occupation-based groupings. This will increase clarity for awarding organisations working with both Ofqual and IfATE. 

Ofqual is also developing an action plan to align its complaints handling with new Central Government Complaints Standards, which includes being mindful of any potential additional burden on awarding organisations. 

Similarly, Ofqual expects to issue materials related to the use of AI by awarding organisations. This may include advice and guidance to support awarding organisation choices about whether and how they deploy the technology. Ofqual expects to continue its dialogue with the sector in the development and implementation of such material to maximise its applicability. 

Ofqual will be asking regulated awarding organisations to review, and where appropriate, ensure their scope of recognition is more closely aligned with their current and intended qualification offer. This will reduce burden by supporting Ofqual to be targeted and proportionate in its regulation and monitoring of the awarding organisations. In addition, this work is planned to take place in a targeted and phased approach to prevent unnecessary burden for awarding organisations who have already recently reviewed their scope or become recognised.

Implementing qualifications reform 

Ofqual will maintain its existing approach to the ongoing post-16 qualifications review, introducing new rules and guidance only when deemed essential to secure the aims of the review to improve the future qualifications landscape. This covers the 3 remaining strands of the level 2 and below post-16 qualifications review, including personal, social and employability qualifications; English based on the adult literacy and adult numeracy standards; and the English for Speakers of Other Languages skills for life qualifications. 

As the work on the qualifications review progresses, Ofqual will continue to consider if and how its regulatory framework for these qualifications can be simplified to minimise, where possible, the regulatory burden on awarding organisations. For future cycles of qualifications submitted for funding approval as part of the post-16 qualifications review, Ofqual will explore how the way it carries out the upfront review of awarding organisation submissions may be refined. 

Building on the existing collaboration with IfATE on Higher Technical Qualifications, Ofqual will provide reactive support to IfATE Higher Technical Qualification reviews as opposed to generating separate findings. This will reduce burden on awarding organisations through reducing information requests.

Annex 

Engagement with existing and prospective awarding organisations 

Throughout the year a number of optional meetings and webinars with selected awarding organisations were conducted to discuss policy development, provide guidance or conduct training. The table below sets out these optional engagements.

Table 1: Summary of the webinars and virtual events from April 2023 to March 2024

Ofqual webinar or virtual event	Dates
Webinar on the consultation proposals for level 2 and below qualifications supporting progression to higher levels of study	Apr 2023
Level 2 and below progression - webinar on consultation outcomes and proposals	Jul 2023
Webinar 1: Accessing and submitting your Statement of Compliance (SoC) on the Portal	Oct 2023
Webinar 2: Understanding the SoC and the key lines of enquiry (KLoE)	Oct 2023
Workshop: Designing and developing accessible assessments	Nov 2023
Artificial intelligence webinar for awarding organisations	Dec 2023
Webinar: Portal user training	Feb 2024
Webinar: QLCs and guidance for Progression qualifications	Feb 2024

VTQ regulator briefings were held in: 

• May 2023 
• September 2023 
• November 2023 
• February 2024

Recognition regulatory activity 

The recognition process for all awarding organisations is necessarily robust. It is important Ofqual maintains a high bar for new entities to be recognised to provide regulated qualifications. 

Table 2: An overview of recognition activity for the previous 12 months, and those relating to organisations offering end-point assessments only

Regulatory activity	1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024	1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023	1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022	1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021	1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020
Recognition decisions	407	623	477	203	84
Of these, recognition decisions on organisations offering end-point assessments only	312	535	428	149	N/A

Compliance and enforcement regulatory activity 

Ofqual sets requirements that awarding organisations must continuously meet and then monitors their compliance with these requirements. Where problems are identified, compliance and enforcement regulatory action is taken to make sure awarding organisations put things right, and that the students and apprentices are treated fairly. (A full list of such actions that are published can be found at ‘regulatory actions and interventions’.) 

Table 3: An overview of compliance and enforcement regulatory activity over the previous 12 months and compared with recent years 

Regulatory activity	1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024	1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023	1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022	1 April 2020 to 31 March 2021	1 April 2019 to 31 March 2020
Compliance activity – including specific information gathering exercises	20	77	See note 1	See note 1	See note 1
Audits	1	1	0	0	32
Investigations	6	5	0	7	3
Directions	0	0	0	0	0
Special Conditions	11 (7 of which were imposed at recognition)	18 (11 of which were imposed at recognition)	25 (20 of which were imposed at recognition)	8 (4 of which were imposed at recognition)	16 (6 of which were imposed at recognition)
Fines	0	2 (and a further 2 cost recovery penalties following fines)	1	0	3
Undertakings	2	1	1	4	7

Note 1: Compliance activity occurred but was not reported.

Consultations 

In line with its co-regulatory approach, Ofqual works closely with regulated awarding organisations and other affected stakeholders by consulting these on its policies. This puts an additional burden on all participating stakeholders. 

Table 4: An overview of consultation activity for the previous 12 months 

Consultations		1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024	1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023		1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022
Consultation outcome published		8	8		12
Active consultation		5	10		13